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ZERA WATERS, OF BLOOMINGTON, ILLINOIS.

Letters Patent No. 80,374, dated July, 28, 1868.

IMPROVED HAT-HOLDER.

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TO ALL WHOM IT MAY CONCERN:

Be it known that I, ZERA WATERS, of Bloomington, in the county of McLean, and State of Illinois, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Hat-Holders; and I do hereby declare that the following isa full, clear, and exact description thereof, which will enable others skilled in the art to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, in which- Figure 1 is a side view of my invention.

Figure 2 is a detail .view of the lock-mechanism.

Similar letters of reference indicate like parts.

The object of this invention is to provide a means for holding hats, and locking the same, in such a manner that none but the person having the key to the lock can take it from the rack.

nIt is particularly designed for hotels, steamboats, and public halls, to prevent those mistakes in taking hats from racks, which mistakes are generally annoying and disadvantageous to one of the parties concerned, and will save hotel-keepers, and other persons who are responsible for the loss of hats, a great deal of expense in replacing stolen hats. Y

It consists of a Afixed hat-pin, A, having a disk, a, on which the top of the hat rests, and a rod, B, having a disk, b, arranged to shut down upon the hat when on the disk a, and to lock when so shut down, thereby holding the hat'between the two disks a and I, and preventing its removal until the rod B israised, which can vonly be done after unlocking the lock I), which constitutes the joint, by which the rod B is vibrated up or down.

A a, all as and' for the purpose set forth.

The lock-case D is affixed to some stationary standard, E, or its equivalent, as shown, and is formed with a semicircular profile, on which the correspondent arched plate G, affixed tothe rod B, slides as the said rod is vibrated, thus forming a joint, by which the said rod is raised from or shut down upon the hat.

The lock-mechanism' consists of a catch-lever, d, pivoted at g, and held against theeatch e, on the rod B,

by a spring, j'. The lever d thus holds the rod B from being raised until the said lever is pushed down to free it from the catch e, which operation is performed with a proper key, t, which is entered in a corresponding key`- hole at the upper end of the lock-case. The key being pressed in, and the rod B raised', the hat can he taken from the disk a. l v

As therod B is raised, the seniieircular face G passes over the key, thus enclosing it in the lock.

The rod B remains raised by means of the friction of the lever'cZ against it, and is thus in readinessto be `brought down upon a hat 'placed on the disk a.y When so brought down, the key 7L is thrown out, where it is held vfrom being thrown completely out by a guard, z'. The key is then taken by the owner of the hat. As the rod is brought down, its catch e is caught by a corresponding catch on the lever d, and is thus self-locking.

An extension of the'rod B is pivoted at It, or some point which is the centre of semicircular face of the lock-case, 'lso that the rod B will be held in contact with'the lock-case, and lwill also slidefupon it.

A number of such hat-holders maybe arranged in a rack, eac guest, or person attending any public place, wishes to secure his hat, he places it on one of these, shuts down the rod B, and takes away the key.

I desire to be understood as not limitingmyself to the construction of thc lock-mechanism, for vthat may he variously modified or substituted.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent- 1. A rod, B b, having Vany suitable lock-joint, substantially as described, in combination with the hat-rest 2. The lock-mechanism, substantially as described, in combination with a rodLB b, and rest A a, all as and for the purpose set forth. l

' ZERA' WATERS.

Witnesses:

H; S. HERR, Il. S. WoonAnn.

h having its particular key, and, when a hotel- 

